She poked the spun rope with scissors, her face twisted with resentment.
“I was one step away from inheriting the Taylor Family’s fortune and marrying into the Thompson family as a noble lady.”
“You’re the one who ruined everything!”
She drove the blade into the rope with all her strength.
As the rope neared breaking, panic rose in my chest and I shouted hoarsely, “Stop! If you dare kill me, you'll never find Aaron!”
The scissors, lifted high, halted mid-air. Fear washed over her face as she opened her mouth to ask for answers.
Suddenly, my phone rang. It was Carter. “We’ve found him. I’ll handle everything for you.”
After I hung up, a cold light flashed in Audrey’s eyes.
“I won't kill you... But your precious little darling will meet an accident tonight!”
My body stiffened, as if dropped into an ice pit. Then, Audrey told her bodyguards to shove me into the car.
“Abigail, if you hadn't cheated on your husband back then, you wouldn't have given birth to those twins!”
“Shut up...”
I ground my teeth, wanting to slam my head into hers, but the car lurched forward, sending me tumbling backward without warning.
“You’re so naive! Just grabbing a kidney from the storage makes you grateful to tears.”
“One word from Carter and you'd rush to entertain him without a second thought, only to end up getting played and dumped in a bed full of male models.”
“Shut up!”
Unable to break free from the ropes around my wrists, I could only shout at her. “Why are you hurting me? If you want Carter, I'll give him to you! I don’t want him!”
A heavy, stabbing pain rushed through my chest, as if reliving that day’s torment. My body tightened, my breath hitching in my throat.
They hadn’t just betrayed me; they had trapped me in a place I could never escape. Tears slipped silently, while boiling hatred burned against my fists.
The car finally halted by the sea. Beneath the night sky, the ocean stretched in a vast, inky expanse, its waves raging wildly.
The bodyguards pushed me out and I screamed toward the endless coast, “Aaron! Where are you?”
Suddenly, a burst of lights blazed in the darkness, lighting up the sea. A small lifeboat drifted atop the turbulent dark waves.
Aaron clutched the edge of the lifeboat, crying helplessly.
“Mom! Help me!”
The boat was sinking bit by bit, the cabin already filled with seawater. My chest ached and I clutched it tightly.
Carter, aboard a speedboat in the distance, lifted his hunting rifle. A deafening bang rang out as the bullet tore through the lifeboat’s deck.
Aaron swayed with the rocking waves, nearly falling. In that desperate instant, my breath caught.
I screamed with all my strength. “Carter! Don't hurt Aaron!”
“You wanted a heart? Take mine! Is mine enough?”
Carter stayed emotionless, lifting his rifle and firing two more shots.
Watching Aaron cry in that small boat tore me apart.
Dylan’s message flashed across my screen. Divers were waiting a hundred meters below.
Right now, I have to get Aaron out of the line of fire. In that crucial moment, a burst of raw strength surged through every part of me.
I pushed the bodyguards aside and ran toward Aaron without hesitation.
Ice-cold seawater streamed into my collar. Hearing his distant cries, I swam forward with every bit of strength I had.
A hundred meters, ninety, fifty, forty... Overwhelmed with relief, I reached out and caught the boat, only for a violent wave to crash over my head.
As the seawater swallowed me, I gathered Aaron into my arms and dove beneath the surface.
